Airlines call reopening tepid- 07 MAY 21

Airlines prepare for ‘tepid’ 17 May reopening international travel

07 May 2021 - The Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BAR UK) has cautioned that the announcement by the Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, does not go far enough to reconnect the UK to its most important markets.

Dale Keller, chief executive of BAR UK said “This tepid reopening marks an important first phase but the very limited number of countries initially allocated as ‘green for go’ from 17 May will leave a lot of people disappointed and aircraft and jobs grounded. The majority of countries remain in the amber category with arrival restrictions unchanged from today regardless of vaccination status, so there is little prospect of business or leisure traffic building significantly on these routes in the first phase. Travel remains the most impacted major sector and the entire industry is doing whatever it takes to work with the Government to encourage more aligned and effective processes for safe and efficient travel to resume at scale. Governments clearly still have much more to achieve in this regard.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

The Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BAR UK) presents the widest international voice of the airline industry; representing 70 scheduled airlines in the UK in their engagement with government, government departments, regulators and airport operators.

For further information contact:

Dale Keller

Chief Executive

BAR UK Ltd

Mobile: 07740 174 815

E-mail: dale.keller@bar-uk.org

Follow us on twitter www.twitter.com/BAR_UK_